...They were invading.
Invading the ground, the buildings, the people.
As if their sole purpose of existence...
Was to prove that what we believe to be the end...
One of the soldiers beside us was hit—not physically, but he fell screaming, bleeding from his nose, eyes, and ears, as if his body had decided to collapse all at once.
I looked at him, then at the sky, where the rift continued to widen, and the mouth devoured more of the light.
Kyle yanked my arm, more violently this time.
"We need to get out of here! Valerian, wake up!"
But I was awake.
For the first time… truly awake.
I turned my face to him slowly, and whispered:
"I see them… as if I… know them."
The words came out of my mouth without permission.
A mix of realization, fear, and a truth without explanation.
As if something deep and ancient inside me remembered what I'd never lived.
Selena grabbed my other arm, her eyes pleading:
